#the power of 24 fireballs directly to the face

[spiderin-space]

Clauneck’s Shoe is actually very funny

[thecreaturecodex]

Zetton

“[SFM] Satan Zetton��� © deviantArt user Neo Ultimo, accessed at his gallery here

[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord​. The last of the Ultraman conversions I have planned. And appropriately enough, the last monster fought by the original Ultraman. It (kinda) killed him. So I wanted Zetton to be a beast. The ties to the Dominion of the Black are the suggestion of the commissioner.]

Zetton CR 25 CE Aberration This black and grey creature is roughly humanoid and roughly insectile. Its face is nearly featureless, except for its long antennae, two slits in the side of its head, and a glowing yellow oval in the center. Two larger yellow orbs grow in its chest. Its hands end in pincers.

Zetton is a chimera engineered by the Dominion of the Black, using the traits of the deadliest monsters of a dozen planets. Although the Dominion is typically subtle in its activities, Zetton is sent to eliminate their most powerful enemies when subtlety is no longer needed or advisable. Zetton is not terribly intelligent, and so lesser Dominion agents typically identify and sabotage targets so that Zetton can crush them in one swift blow.

Zetton’s combat strategy is to act as a living artillery platform, firing exploding fireballs and deadly bolts of force as it sees fit. It can teleport short distances at will, and uses this ability to confound its foes and set up tactical positions on the battlefield. Zetton is a powerful melee brute as well, and its snapping pincers can crush all but the stoutest opposition. It is especially skilled at fighting other powerful entities, as it can redirect beam weapons and fire them back at their source.

Zetton has traversed the galaxy dozens of times on its missions of death, but is beginning to chafe under the control of the Dominion of the Black. If Zetton snaps its tether and begins to act on its own initiative, the destruction could be even more catastrophic. Rumors exist that Zetton is the adult, or imago, form of a whole species that molts and metamorphoses as insects do. If this is the case, there could be a whole race of Zettons in the far reaches of space.

Zetton can speak Aklo, but rarely has much to say. It commonly repeats its own name as a battle cry.

Zetton   CR 25 XP 1,640,000 CE Colossal aberration Init +15; Senses darkvision 120 ft., Perception +24, see invisibility Aura terror (60 ft., Will DC 31) Defense AC 43, touch 28, flat-footed 43 (-8 size, +15 Dex, +10 deflection, +1 dodge, +15 natural) hp 577 (33d8+429); fast healing 10 Fort +24, Ref +26, Will +23 DR 15/epic; Immune cold, curses, disease, poison, mind-influencing effects; Resist electricity 30, fire 30, sonic 30; SR 35 Defensive Abilities barrier, uncanny dodge, unstoppable Offense Speed 60 ft., fly 60 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +33 (4d6+17) Ranged light bullet +26/+21/+16/+11 touch (2d8+15 force/19-20) Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft. Special Attacks redirect beam, rend (2 claws, 4d6+25) Spell-like Abilities CL 25th, concentration +35 Constant—see invisibility At will—dimension door, meteor swarm (DC 29) 3/day—quickened dimension door 1/day—interplanetary teleport Statistics Str 45, Dex 40, Con 37, Int 8, Wis 20, Cha 30 Base Atk +24; CMB +49; CMD 85 Feats Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Dimensional Agility, Dimensional Assault, Dimensional Dervish, Dimensional Savant, Dodge, Improved Critical (light bullet), Mobility, Point-Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quicken SLA (dimension door), Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run, Stand Still, Step Up Skills Acrobatics +34, Fly +30, Knowledge (engineering) +19, Intimidate +30, Perception +24, Sense Motive +22 Languages Aklo SQ no breath Ecology Environment any Organization unique Treasure incidental Special Abilities Aura of Terror (Su) All living creatures within 60 feet of Zetton must succeed a DC 31 Will save or cower in fear for 1d4+1 rounds. A creature that succeeds this save is immune to Zetton’s aura for the next 24 hours. Barrier (Su) Zetton gains a deflection bonus to Armor Class and CMD equal to its Charisma modifier. Light Bullet (Su) Zetton can fire bolts of pure force. Treat this as a ranged touch attack made with a firearm, with a range increment of 200 feet. Zetton’s bolts add its Dexterity bonus to damage, and do not count as ranged touch attacks for the purpose of the Deadly Aim feat. Zetton may use these attacks at will. Redirect Beam (Su) Zetton can ready an action to catch a line attack or ranged touch attack that targets it or passes through its square. With this readied action, the beam deals no damage to Zetton, and it may choose a new target or direction as it wills. Any damage done by this redirected beam is multiplied by 1.5, as if under the effects of the Empower Spell feat. The save DC of the attack does not change. Zetton may use this ability to redirect an attack directly at its source. Unstoppable (Ex) If Zetton starts its turn suffering from any of the following conditions, it recovers from them on the end of its turn: blind, confused, dazed, deafened, dazzled, exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, sickened, slowed, staggered and stunned.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 175

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 27 - “Rin-chan’s Date with a Handsome Ghost!?” Date watched: 24 March 2020 Original air date: 12 August 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/7vdwVuj Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

not pictured: a handsome ghost

Are you ready for more summer vacation antics? How about some ghost stories! No, not the gag dub kind, I mean actual ghost stories. Yes, tonight the girls decide to poke around an abandoned wing of their school and wind up in the middle of something bigger than themselves. Let’s dive in!

The Plot

All the girls are gathered around a table in the dark as Komachi tells them the story of Count Rosett, who used to live in a mansion behind the school with his girlfriend, until she died in a tragic accident. The count lived out the rest of his days in sadness and now his spirit returns to the school on the anniversary of her death. Nozomi, Urara, Milk, and Coco are all a little scared by the story, Karen and Nuts seem indifferent or even bored, but Rin is scared out of her mind. So naturally they go check it out.

Over in Nightmare, Kawarino himself summons Arachnea to the office and tells her that while her work is good, if she instills fear into her opponents, then they’ll expend all their energy. Sound advice honestly. With that in mind, she sets off, and begins to haunt the girls on their ghost hunt. How timely! Arachnea plays her card very quickly by bringing a skeleton to life, which makes itself known to Rin and only Rin, so she bolts off down the hallway away from the other girls. Suddenly she runs into another shadowy figure.... who reveals herself as Masuko Mika, who is inexplicably here at the same time with the same objective of finding the ghost and reporting on it.

or they’re doing the fusion dance

Nozomi, Urara, Komachi, Karen, and the fairies continue exploring the school building, trying to find Rin, and end up in a pitch-black classroom. Karen bumps into something, and when they shine the light on it revealing it to be a large statue of a man, she finally gets scared and screams. After Karen calms down, Komachi deduces that this must be Count Rosett, and then they see a large portrait on the wall of a woman who looks a lot like Rin.

or more accurately the animators drew Rin’s head on this random portrait

Rin and Mika continue wandering around until the skeleton reappears and starts chasing both of them. Rin trips and falls but Mika doesn’t stop, so Rin scrambles into a nearby classroom to hide and the skeleton passes her by. This time, though, she comes face to face with yet another specter, as a large shadowy figure reaches for her, and this one isn’t a student.

She freaks right the fuck out and loses consciousness. When she comes to, the other girls are surrounding her and asking what happened. When she explains, Komachi puts the pieces of the puzzle together and deduces that this was Count Rosett, the portrait was of his deceased girlfriend, and he was trying to give Rin a gift for his girlfriend. They convince her to try to meet him again and resolve his centuries-old suffering by accepting the gift. She really does not want to but they beg and plead her and she begrudgingly agrees to try it. Once again she enters the room and lo and behold the shadowy figure reaches for her. However the girls suddenly finds themselves in broad daylight in the courtyard of the school building and adjacent mansion, with a handsome man standing in front of her. He greets her and presents her with a rose-shaped hairpin, but before Rin can explain that she’s not his lover, the sky turns purple and Arachnea makes her appearance. She gloats about this excellent terrain and turns the wandering skeleton into a Kowaina, which is just a giant skeleton with a Kowaina mask on its forehead. Rin and the other girls quickly transform. 

The monster wreaks havoc on the mansion, which Rouge takes special exception to on behalf of the Count, and Arachnea retorts that it doesn’t matter anyway since this is a false world, before reminding Rouge that she had just been deathly afraid of the Count’s ghost mere moments ago. Rouge exclaims that her fear went away when he communicated his feelings and the girls all go on the attack. Mint and Aqua and then Dream and Lemonade perform a nice one-two combo on the monster as Rouge declares that she won’t forgive Nightmare for wrecking the Count’s house, even in an illusion world, and then her brooch glows and she summons her new weapon, the Rouge Tact. She uses it to perform a powered-up version of her finisher: Rouge Burning

The items should have been called Rouge Torch and Dream Tact but what do I know

This attack utterly destroys the Kowaina, and the mansion returns to its former beauty. The girls detransform and Count Rosett once again tries to give Rin the hairpin. She tells him she isn’t the girl he was waiting on, but he responds that she fought so hard for his sake and he just wants her to have it. She smiles the biggest smile and then the Count and the scenery fade away, leaving the girls back in the school building, with Rin still holding the hairpin. As they leave the building, Nozomi teases Rin about possible latent feelings for the Count, and then Mika reappears screaming about how she was chased by a skeleton. Komachi suggests they go back inside and get pictures, but Mika is too afraid to see any more ghosts. However, Rin states that ghosts are just like people, they experience normal feelings and once those feelings are communicated there’s no cause for fear, a marked change from her earlier behavior.

The Analysis

It’s shameless summer filler and it is EXCELLENT. This is how you do low-stakes. It’s fun! It’s a great character spotlight! It takes us new places! It ties into typical summer activities! This plays out like an episode of Scooby-Doo, with a shoujo bent. It’s comedy gold from the very beginning, when Komachi tells a ghost story and the others are varying degrees of afraid and all the way through the episode when Rin is the only one being haunted, either by Arachnea’s interference, classmates, or actual ghosts. The poor girl can’t get a break. But the comedy is done excellently, and the episode is positively filled with wonderful facial expressions (which is why my gallery ballooned to 132 images, a record for a non-movie or finale episode, so check that out).

I love how Karen and Nuts are just so over it all, while Komachi is too excited about the mystery to be scared. It makes sense given her affinity for literature, she’s heard it all before and she just wants to see if there’s any weight to the rumors. Nuts, being well-read and also generally apathetic, is probably just not spooked by ghost stories period. But back to Rin: Nozomi explains how she’s positively terrified by ghosts, and so of course she’s the one that ends up seeing them all, and ultimately meeting Count Rosett in the flesh (sorta) teaches her a valuable lesson that hey, they’re not so bad if you can reach an understanding. I don’t believe this has any lasting impact on her character but I might be wrong. I hope we see some hint of this going forward.

As I said, while Rin is scared out of her wits, the other girls are far from unshakeable. Even Karen, who spends about half of the episode acting bored, finally flips when she bumps into what she thinks is a person in the dark.

Nuts is still unimpressed though

Nozomi and Urara are scared when they start but everyone’s animosities fade away once they find the portrait of Count Rosett’s presumed girlfriend, and all they can think of is trying to get him to meet Rin and put him to final rest.

This and the next episode have really made me realize a problem to the show at this point, however. Since they got rid of Girinma, Nightmare’s only grunt is Arachnea, while Gamao is still wandering around as a free agent, and the two basically alternate episodes. Bunbee is going to dip his toes in the water again in episode 29 but it’s kind of a slog on the villain side until episode 31 when Hadenya and Bloody show up. Gamao is completely unlikeable and Arachnea has all the personality of a loaf of stale bread. Her attempt at being scary here consists of chasing Rin with a skeleton in an already haunted setting. That’s all she can muster. I’m very reticent to give Smile Precure credit for anything but they definitely had a better haunted school episode.

During the battle, Rouge accesses her portion of the Symphony Set for the first time, which is called the Rouge Tact. “Tact” is of course a name that will be reused for various Precure baton weapons in the coming seasons. The wiki says that it’s derived from the German word “taktstock”, which refers to a music conductor’s baton. As for its design, it is a large leaf shape with a handle on one end and an extension on the other which lights on fire. As I quipped above, I think it should have been called “Rouge Torch” while Dream’s baton should have another name, but oh well. The way she uses it is interesting, as you’d expect her to use it to launch a fireball directly at the enemy but she doesn’t. During her normal Rouge Fire attack, she creates a burning butterfly from the back of her hand and then palmstrikes it into the monster. Here, instead, she ignites the tact, then in a single motion she swoops the flame in front of her as the butterfly separates from her hand, she releases the tact and grabs it with her right hand as she pulls back with her left for a palmstrike and the burning butterfly shoots towards her enemy. A lot happens in a short time but the effect isn’t dramatically different from her normal attack, and rather than shooting a stream of fire directly from the tact she just uses it like a lighter. Once again, it suggests the staff weren’t sure how to incorporate the Symphony Set into the show.

I appreciate them remembering that Masuko Mika exists but it’s a really big coincidence that she’s here on this night. The script didn’t make it clear whether the ghost was spotted on one night every year, or every month, or just randomly. If they had clarified that, it may have made more sense for her to appear. I’m glad they’re trying to incorporate her but all she really does is scare Rin, sneak around, and then run off at the first sign of actual spookiness. Bring her into the group dang it! Make her a friend of the precures. Minor complaint.

From a cinematorgraphy standpoint this episode has some really cool camera shots. My absolute favorite is this zoom back from the abandoned wing of the school:

And later on the inverse: a zoom in and tilt upwards to look at the portrait of the lady that resembles Rin:

These scenes help to breathe some energy into the episode and provide atmosphere, enhancing the creepy and mysterious mood of the place.

Then there’s this sequence where the girls are trying to convince Rin to go find Count Rosett again, where the camera dollies back in stages and then shifts right to look at Karen.

I don’t remember seeing complex camerawork like this in previous episodes so to have so many of these unique shots in one episode is really cool and it makes me want to see more of it.

Finally, while this isn’t a very complicated shot, I like this bit from the fight where Dream and Lemonade perform a double kick in perfect sync.

I’m a sucker for cool fight choreorgraphy and this fits the bill. Sure, we’ve seen other more complex fights in this season alone but I like to call them all out when I find them.

(reminder: you can find higher resolution copies of these gifs in my gallery, I have to keep them under 2 MB for Tumblr)

All told, this episode is a fantastic summer ghost story. It balances comedy with an interesting mystery and provides Rin with just enough character growth to justify her unlocking her new finisher. It’s got some wonderful facial expressions that you can find in my gallery and it’s only brought down a little by its unerwhelming villain.

Next time, another summer staple: it’s time for a festival! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure catchphrase count: 0 kettei!

[rivaltierno]

Power Failure [Chapter 1]

A mishap during a fight with Katarou results in the team getting their powers swapped. Now, in an attempt to get their proper powers back, they have to get Katarou to cooperate with them, all while dealing with new abilities they don’t know how to use - and two teammates currently out of commission due to that. A retelling of Teen Titans Go! Issue #24 with Honorary Titans. 

Written for Honorary Titan Fan Week 2020, Day 4: “With the Honoraries”

Word Count: 1,560

It didn’t seem like that serious of a fight. Katarou came up to the newly-formed team after a press conference and demanded they fight him. None of them had heard of him, but Titans East had told them stories of civilians not trusting them to be “real Titans” at first and wanting to see “proof” of their skills, so the team agreed that must be what the man wanted. 

With the rest of their team ushering away any remaining civilians, Herald held out a hand towards Katarou. “What kind of fight are you hopin’ for?”

Katarou clutched onto their hand, not even shaking it. “Three turns. You may strike first.”

Herald pulled away, unnerved by his actions. They briefly considered turning down his offer, but decided against it. They had a feeling he would fight him anyway, or worse, take his rage out on another civilian. “Right.”

Fortunately enough, the press conference had taken place at the local park, so they had enough empty space to battle in. It even gave the rest of the team a place to sit down and watch the fun.

“Make your move, Titan!” Kataoru taunted, opposite of the group. “I’m waiting.”

As much as they wanted to, Herald knew they couldn't just kick him in the face and be done with it - superheroes don’t beat up civilians. So they decided to just knock him off his feet instead.

They darted forward, and then dropped down and swung their legs towards Kataoru’s ankles.

Kataoru jumped over their attack, and grinned as he watched them go immediately into another spin to try again. Too easy. His reflexes were faster, and with just one hand, he grabbed their ankle to stop them in their tracks.

Before Herald could fully realize what was happening, they had been hoisted into the air upright, like a twisted cheerleading routine. Unable to break free from Kataoru’s grip, they instead focused their energy on staying balanced as possible, knowing that something would break if their body went one way and their leg the other. 

Kataoru kept grinning. “My turn.” He clamped his other hand on Herald’s ankle and began spinning them around. It was much smaller circle than Herald had been in earlier, just to increase the likelihood of giving them whiplash.

Their teammates decided to get involved at that point. While the other four stayed behind to come up with a plan, Gnarrk dashed towards the fight, planning to free Herald from Kataoru’s grasp.

Unfortunately for him, Kataoru was faster. He flung Herald towards him, and laughed when Gnarrk, clearly not prepared to catch them, was unable to bear the momentum and was also flung back a few feet.

This caused Kole to abandon the group discussion and rush over to see if the two of them were hurt. She was relieved to see that Gnarrk barely had any scratches, and Herald could sit up with minimal dizziness. She still had to help them fully get up, though. 

“Clearly a direct attack isn’t going to work,” Jinx hissed, internally berating herself for not taking the fight more seriously in the first place. “But-”

“I’m waiting for your next move!” Kataoru began taunting again. “Unless you want to admit defeat.” “But,” she started again, “I wonder if he can hit someone that isn't directly in front of him. I’m going to attack from behind while you two distract him. Just, don’t run up and punch him.” With that, Jinx went off, not sticking around to see if either of her remaining teammates had disagreements. 

Jericho did have disagreements, however, for je had the same plan as Jinx. Je wasn’t going to stick around and be a distraction, but did sign jems plan to Hot Spot before also running off, albeit in the opposite direction. “I’m sneaking up on him. Good luck.”

This left Hot Spot to be the one to distract Kataoru. He grumbled slightly, but still marched forward to the man. He supposed he should have expected this to happen, given that he and Jinx were the only ones on the team that didn’t need to be up-close-and-personal to fight. 

“Your teammates ran like cowards,” Kataoru sneered. “You think you alone can defeat me?”

“Depends if you have other tricks up your sleeve,” Hot Spot replied. “You’ll find that you can’t throw me around.” He began to form a small fireball - easier to aim than full fire blasts, and could be dragged out for however long it took his teammates to enact their plans. He hoped it would be soon, whoever it was.

Kataoru wasn’t a patient man, and did not appreicate Hot Spot taking his time to take his turn. “If you insist on standing there, then I will take my turn first. Be prepared.” He jumped into the air and landed back down in the same spot, the ground shaking on impact. Part of it cracked underneath him, and he placed a foot on one particular crack.

Hot Spot stumbled slightly, but easily balanced himself again, the fire ball he was creating not affected in the slightest. Out of the side of his eye, he could see Jinx nearby, ready to strike. A smug look spread across his face. “Is that all you got?”

“Nope.” Kataoru stomped down on the crack, and a large chunk of earth flew upwards, accompanied by a shriek. 

Jinx’s hexes went flying as she was thrown into the air. The first few crashed in front of her, so when she landed back on the ground, she fell into a dust ball. She coughed and began trying to get dirt out of her eyes.

The rest of her hexes hit Hot Spot. The magic made him recoil back, his fire ball flying out to the side. 

Jericho had snuck up on the fight just in time to narrowly avoid a fire ball scorching jem. Je twirled on jems heels, only to bump into Kataoru while doing so. In the first lucky moment of the fight, it seemed that he was content to just laugh at jem, giving jem the opportunity to keeping going past him towards Jinx.

“Friendly fire,” Kataoru continued laughing. “A waste of a turn.” He then turned and ran towards one of the hills in the park. He wanted to see all six of his opponents at once for is next move, and being above them would do the trick.

“Hey!” Hot Spot shouted, running after him. “Get back here!” It didn’t take long for him to catch up, but it did bother him that he now had to look up to see the man. “Hiding up there, huh? Who’s the coward now, Kataoru?”

Kataoru didn’t respond verbally, and instead simply pulled out the necklace from under his shirt. He held it up so it gleamed in the sunlight, in hopes of showing off just how powerful of a tool it was. And lucky for him, he was showing it to the one Titan on the team who actually knew what it was.

Hot Spot instinctively took a step back from it. “How did you...?”

“How did he what?” Jinx asked as she and Jericho came up behind him.

“That necklace,” he responded, more concerned with warning his teammates than replying, “It can trap people inside of it and steal their powers. That must be why-”

“I’m so powerful?” Kataoru finished, his menacing grin returning to his face. “And with all of your powers, I’ll be even stronger. I was hoping you all would be more impressive, but power is power. Now if the rest of your little group would arrive...”

“Hold on, Kataoru!” Kole shouted, she and Herald finally rejoining the team. Gnarrk was not with them. “We still have our final turn!”

With that statement, Herald opened up a portal above Kataoru’s head. And then nothing else happened.

The rest of the team first eyed the empty portal, then nervously looked over at Herald and Kole, wondering what they had been planning this entire time.

Kataoru, for his part, again laughed at them. “Now that your little performance is over, I’ll take my final turn.” He lifted the necklace even higher into the air, and his lips began to move.

Nobody could hear what he was saying, because it was drowned out by Gnarrk dropping out of the portal, screaming the whole way down.

Gnarrk grabbed onto Kataoru and pulled him down the hill, away from the rest of the Titans, not realizing that the necklace slipped out of his hand. However, he did realize that the man was significantly weaker once he hit the ground, easily crumpling under Gnarrk’s metahuman strength. 

“My necklace...!” Kataoru choked out. There was no way he could win a fight, now. But that wasn’t his only plan. “You’ll want to check on your friends, caveman.” His sneer was less prominent with a hand pressing on his chest, but it was still there. “Who knows what happened to them since you interrupted my chant?”

Gnarrk snarled and swiftly punched him across the face, knocking him out. He watched him for a second to make sure he didn't move, then looked over to the hill separating him and the rest of his team. Anxiety washed over him as he started climbing it, not knowing what he was going to see on the other side.

[maddmuses]

Toya Todoroki // Dabi

(Credit: Abra_Art)

Age: 24 Aliases: Dabi, Blueflame, Sōen Date of Birth: 1/18 Place of Birth: Near Shizuoka Prefecture Species: Emitter-type Metahuman

Appearance Toya is a tall man of sleight build and dark, dyed, hair. Large segments of his body is composed of scar tissue, most of it not his own, with even the bottom segment of his face being compromised of this scarified tissue, all of which is either stapled, or affixed with silver rings, seemingly even holding his face together. Before his body became mutilated, and later repaired, he bore a strong resemblance to his mother, with a round face and naturally soft eyes. Following this, and into adulthood, Toya’s features became much sharper, with large portions of his face becoming scarred and discolored from scarring. This flesh, as well as similarly discolored and scarred flesh in other parts along his body, were crudely attached to his living skin with surgical staples and hooped piercings. Most likely, the skin itself is attached to him, but these staples and hoops are meant to serve as some sort of reminder of the injuries he suffered in his previous life.

Generally, in terms of clothing, Toya prefers dark jackets and pants, though his shirts tend to be white, though he’s also known to wear gray, and other single-color, t-shirts as well. While as a villain he tends to favor longer, more flowing, coats, often with frayed edges, but also shortened sleeves that display his scars very proudly.

Personality A mysterious man by nature, Toya as an adult chooses to withhold much of his personal information, not even sharing his real name with the other villains in The League, operating solely under pseudonyms. He derives some pleasure from this deception as he anticipates the suffering that he’ll someday inflict on Endeavor, as a sort of righteous punishment for the hero.  With this mysterious nature he is also intentionally aloof, choosing to not show emotion with a powerful stoicism so as to avoid giving too much away about himself, through lowering his guard.

Due to his abuse as a child from his father, Dabi is extremely indifferent to violence, being rather crude about the deaths of those who perish right in front of him. When he finds himself in a confrontation against a fake hero, by his standards, he’ll often drop his stoicism, taking pleasure in taunting them, and putting them through emotional trauma by endangering and killing others. This marks him as an obvious sadist, who loves to inflict pain on those that he sees as deserving.

Thanks to how his father pursued the position of top hero so doggedly, disregarding others in this pursuit and clearly doing so to fulfill some sort of narcissistic dream, then attempting to do so vicariously through his children, Dabi easily took to Stain’s ideology, seeing the current super hero society as one that caused his suffering. So long as The League of Villains remains committed, apparently, to this goal of dismantling the society of superheroes, he will follow them loyally, ready to murder any of those who stand in the way.

Even through his villainous identity, Toya still shows significant empathy towards those whose experiences mirrored his own, particularly when heroes and villains caused them to suffer, especially in the cases of heroes abusing their spouses and children.

Biography Toya Todoroki was the eldest son of Enji and Rei Todoroki. He was part of an arranged marriage that intended to create an extremely powerful quirk that would allow said child to take the Number 1 hero slot from All Might. Initially, it seemed that Toya was going to be that child, with his quirk, Wildfire, being even more powerful in terms of heat and raw destructive power than his father’s Hellflame. But, unfortunately, Toya was a naturally sickly and weak-bodied child, with his body not being able to handle the heat to such a degree that he’d be able to use Wildfire to its fullest potential. Thanks to this, Toya wouldn’t be put under his father’s boot excessively, with his sister instead being put forth for consideration next, then their brothers, with whom he shared a positive relationship.

Despite the brief period of abuse towards him, and the extended one that he saw his younger brother and mother suffer, Toya continued to have his mind set on being a pro hero, or at least a public servant, so that he could find a way to affect more positive change than his egotistical father could ever manage.

With this sense of overconfidence, Toya, as a middle schooler, would intervene during a villain attack without sufficient training, when he saw that the criminals had quirks that were perfectly countered by Wildfire. However, due to this same inexperience, his natural weakness to his own quirk, and a too late intervention on the part of Endeavor, Toya seemed to be consumed in an explosion that was believed to have killed him and the criminals. However, the broken body of the boy was later found by paramedics who were associated with Dr. Ujiko.

Through a series of surgeries, the boy was able to be put back together physically, and after a lengthy period of recovery and physical therapy, the teenaged boy was able to be sent out by the doctor, acting as an inciter through gangs and other criminal activity, keeping All for One’s efforts less centralized. The trauma of his experiences made the criminal life one that didn’t necessitate much conditioning on the part of the boy by Ujiko. Believing himself to have no affiliation with any bigger organization, he set about with the false identity of Dabi, committing arson on hideouts, and otherwise acting as an enforcer, steadily growing more acclimated to his quirk.

[Remaining biography occurs in canon]

Abilities and Skills -Scientific Knowledge: Dabi is well-versed in the functions and limitations of his quirk, being especially well-known for using the mechanics of flame to suffocate a target, or utilize that which he’s already destroyed to serve as fuel to create even more intense flame. -Tactical Acumen: Due to being naturally analytic, Toya is a highly strategic combatant, able to determine the faults and weaknesses of a foe, and exploit them with ease. This is particularly evident when he taunted a weakened Endeavor with extensive knowledge of the hero’s personal identity, in order to easily outmaneuver and foil the hero without endangering himself excessively, and knowing when to withdraw from a battle that starts to turn against him.

Superhuman Powers and Abilities Quirk: Cremation (Originally Wildfire) -Flame Generation: As an emitter-type quirk, Dabi is able to create, or “emit”, blue flames from his body without a need for fuel. These flames are blue in coloration, indicating his quirk’s status as the highest magnitude of flame quirk. Blue flames are of a temperature in excess of 2300 F, meaning that it can combust wood, rock, cement, and can melt iron at higher ends. This flame has caused other people to incinerate in seconds. -Pyrokinetic: Dabi is able to exert control telekintically over flames that he’s created, or those that result from his flames directly. He is able to create fireballs, gouts of flame, explosions, and massive walls.

Weaknesses and Limitations -Self-Infliction: Due to the heat of his flames, and no component of his quirk giving him a natural resistance to flames, even his own, excessive use of his quirk can cause him to become burned if he makes use of his quirk for too long. This results in him being burnt rather easily, requiring him to attempt to engage in short bouts of combat, rather than extended battles. -Intensity: Due to the power of his flame, Dabi’s pyrokinetic factor is not at its greatest level, only being able to express a small degree of technique with Cremation.

Databook Statistics -Power 4/5 (B) -Speed 3/5 (C) -Technique 2/5 (D-) -Intelligence 3/5 (C) -Cooperativeness 4/5 (B) -Mystery 5/6 (A)

[overlycaffeinatedwarmage]

RtS 21-24

These chapters should come with a trigger warning. They do feature some harsh scenes and some sexual assault, though it is from afar. I don’t dwell on those parts during my analysis.  Some are mentioned in passing, but the focus is on Cassie’s doings.  Each chapter is labeled with the type of trigger that it contains.  I would add page numbers, but ebook page numbering is different from the print book so they wouldn’t match for everyone.

This is another long one!

 Ch 21 *trigger warning, assault, slaver camp chapter*

We pick up directly after her battle with Gertie on the cart.  And poor Cassie winds up right back where she started with the slavers. Last chapter, the power told her that the cart driver was supposed to die, but Cassie choose a different route and he ended up not dying.  She considers the implications of that now.  The power again didn’t flare or stop her from changing time.  We know because there is a big ass battle coming up shortly that pretty well decimates the area and likely kills a whole bunch of people.  Anything Cassie messes up now, can be taken care of later during that battle.  She doesn’t know that yet for sure, but she’s starting to wonder now.

 Now Cassie and Rosier make it to the actual slaver camp. Cassie sees what’s happening to all of the women and it’s finally too much for her.  She starts to break away to help.  Rosier calls her back and reminds her that all of this has happened 1500 years ago from her point of view.  It’s all over and done with and all of the women and their children are dead now. He’s right and she knows that but she hates standing back and doing nothing.  I wonder if she’s thinking of how this almost parallels her own life. People have been taking her, without her consent, her entire life.  First Cassie was taken from her parents by Tony.  Then Mircea took her from Tony, in a way.  Next, after she finally thought she broke away from that life, she was taken from her chosen life by the Senate.  Now Mircea’s trying to take her again.  Jonas has been trying to steal her away too.  Everyone wants a piece of Cassie and no one asks her opinion on the matter.  I am so glad to see Cassie start to take back her power from all of these people and refuse to be taken anymore.  

 We meet the 6th century Witches. They remind me a lot of their 21st century counter parts.  With some hair dye and some modern clothes, I bet you couldn’t even tell the difference.  I love the “Come at me bro” attitude.  

 Cassie about the power’s lack of response even though she was actively participating in and screwing up the time line, “If I had to use a word to describe the overall response, it would have been “meh.” We’re going to have to work on our communication, I told it grimly.”

 Ch22 Trigger warning, still in the slaver camp

Cassie chats with the coven witches.  Their “man inside” is Pritkin, of course.  We find out that the Green Fey are the ones behind the slave trade.  We knew that, more or less, through some context clues, but actual confirmation is nice. Ah, it’s the Green Fey who are at war with the Dark.  Baby!Pritkin has a seemingly good relationship with the Dark Fey.  But it also seems he has a decent relationship with the Green (except Nimue) I wonder how that works with them being at odds with one another. It’s hard to tell his relationship with the Blue but it doesn’t seem awful.  His relationship with the Svarestri is trash, but they hate half breeds so that makes sense.  Interesting. This is something I need to consider further.  

 Anyway, the witches explain Nimue’s plan to steal more women to bring her numbers back up after her war with the Dark fey.  (Side note does Nimue make it out of all of this alive?) As the Witches talk about their plan Cassie realizes that their boy is Pritkin, lol, she's getting pissed.  And then he finds them.

 I love the visual of him running into the tent, thrashing around like crazy, confused as shit, running out head whipping back and forth before he sees them. The Pritkin of today is so calm under pressure, having centuries of practice. This one is new and raw still. All his elements are there, we see it, they just aren't finished yet. I love that KC lets us see character development in this unique way. No other story line can give it quite like this.

 Cassie slaps him, he acts hurt, she yells at him. "It's mostly my feelings-" I mean really, lol. In his mind it was perfectly logical to stash her with the slavers and tell her nothing. He's annoyed that she doesn't share the idea that it was a brilliant plan.  I mean, on some level it makes sense I guess.  But he simply cannot see it from her point of view either.  

 Then we have the Witches reactions.

W: “Friends?”

P: “Friends” C: “it's complicated.” And then they reverse it

W: “I've had friends like that”. They get the right idea all right.

 Ch23, the fey assault Cassie scene

The bracelet is serving as magical weapons mule again.  I love that the bracelet is seeing serious use this book after being sidelined for 2 books. It’s put to a good use too, not just used for killing.  Since it always comes back to Cassie, both she and Pritkin use it with that property in mind.  I also like the throwback to CbS, with Pritkin using it as a magical charm bracelet again (or for the first time, damn time travel).

 According to HtM the Green Fey have thrown in with the gods.  It seems the Svarestri have too. Jury’s still out on Blarestri.  I can’t see the Dark turning to them, especially after the Fey Blessing Radella gave Cassie.  More things to think about.

 Pritkin and Cassie start to get personal here because Cassie is stalling for time. It’s interesting.  Pritkin trusts her, even though no one else does. He doesn't know why he trusts her but he does implicitly and right away. Pritkin knows her even before he knows her. He just trusts her. Big difference from Mircea from EtN when Cassie shifts to the past, he didn't trust it was her at all. It took FOREVER for her to convince him.  Even when Cassie accidentally shifted to Pritkin early in TtS he trusted her from the start.  It was only after he checked the spell he placed on her that said she was upstairs that he just got suspicious. It took little convincing after the slamming that TtS Cassie was who she claimed to be. These two are damn soul mates. Their souls just know. (Side note soon after Cassie says she hates his fake eyes she talks out loud again accidentally).

 Pritkin brings Cassie into the hall as his prisoner. The fey make her strip. Pritkin doesn't want to allow it but Cassie relents quickly, knowing it’s the least risky course of action. Then the fey turn even more asshold-ish Ugh, I hate the fey. Welcome to one of my triggers.  Fuck you neighborhood boys who thought I was their play thing. Yuck yuck yuck. At least Pritkin comes to her rescue

 Ch 24, Cassie Pritkin sex scene

Then we have a Casskin sex-scene, depending on your definition of sex.  Even though the sex will get them out of trouble and Cassie is more or less willing, Pritkin is Not On Board. Not even a little. This is the first time the tables are turned. Usually Pritkin does oral for Cassie. Now it's switched. While this scene is coerced it doesn't bother me too much. They had other options and this is the path Cassie choose. She could have done a lot of other things. Plus, she admits she would have minded doing this under other circumstances. She loves and wants him (as she says later). The feedback loop kicks in and it saves their asses. She finally gets to see his O-face.

 Pritkin uses the power and distraction to throw a fireball. And then we have chaos.  It’s practically their signature style at this point.  “Chaos by Casskin” available at all major department stores and Augustines. Awwwwww Pritkin learned the word “Shit” from Cassie.  And he uses it in the proper context too!  I’m almost as proud as when my 5-year-old learned the word “Fuck” from me and used it in the proper context.  (He told me to “get those fuckers” while I was playing Zelda.)

 The tapestry scene, omg. I should not read this at work....This the first time they have gotten close where they weren’t immediately pulled away. That's why we have this big after effect this time! Every other time they have been interrupted and taken away from each other. Interesting!

They agree doing this is a bad idea and do it anyway, lol.  Yeah, been there, done that guys.  He needs her name here so bad, he won't do it without her name, just in case. Sweet in its way.  We find out why later.  

 TMI time, read at your own peril: I both loved and was frustrated by this scene. Loved it because it's hot as hell. Getting it on in the face of danger is hot!! In public, where you could get caught (and they do). Frustrated because I wanted penis in vagina goddammit! I mean I get that later, but still. Their angle of the action and the kissing sounds a bit awkward though. They are so close to the same height that it wouldn't work so well. I mean, ow!  Not that I know from personal experience or anything. Shut up! I hear you snickering in the back.

 Yeah, um yeah….

[homebrewings]

You grow a new arm at a random part of your body. It is not functional. Next time you take damage, it falls off.

You lose 1 experience point

Your movement speed is doubled. However, in order to retain this benefit you must be constantly in motion. Next time you move 0 feet in one round, your walking speed returns to normal.

Your head and all your limbs are now on backwards until you finish your next long rest. Game mechanics are not affected.

Your feet make the sound of a squeaky toy with every step you take. Automatic failure on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when you try to make no sound. Cured with lesser restoration or by three day's bed rest.

You grow a new arm at a random part of your body, and it IS functional but it will fall off unless you whisper "I love you" to it once every minute.

Everyone, including you, forgets your name forever, and all instances of your name in writing are erased. No memories or documents are otherwise affected, but you need a new name now.

A corgi appears in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of you, and it shall remain completely loyal to you as long as you both shall live.

Every time you take bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage for the next 24 hours, your body makes a horrible farting sound on impact. The volume of the sound is directly correlated to the size of the wound.

For the next week, the first letter of everything you eat must be in the order of the alphabet. For example, if you eat an apple, the next thing you eat must begin with b. You are convinced that if you do not follow this rule, you will surely die.

For one minute, rice flows abundantly from your mouth. You cannot talk or eat (except for swallowing some of the rice) during this time.

Each time you are healed, your skin turns a different color, starting with red and going through the rainbow. Upon the eighth healing, you are returned to your normal color.

Your digestive system is reversed until you complete your next long rest; food goes in the back end and waste comes out the mouth.

A random ability score increases to 25, and a different random ability score decreases to 1. This change lasts until you complete a long rest.

You gain a powerful breath weapon that does 19d12 fire damage, but it only works on a single goblin named Crawfish Bob. You and he are the only ones who can even see the breath weapon, to everyone else it just looks like you are making a weird face.

A random magic item within 100 feet is duplicated, but one of the duplicates is actually cursed and banishes its user to the Abyss. It is impossible to tell which item is which.

You are cursed with werebutterfly lycanthropy, in which you turn into a normal butterfly at the full moon.

You can (and must) immediately cast fireball as a reaction without expending a spell slot or using material components, or even having the spell on your class's list.

Hope this helps!

Please, sir, may I have some ideas?

I'm working on a magic item which belongs to a (usually benign) trickster god. Basic principle, roll the die, then either reap the rewards or wither the consequences, as appropriate. The snag: need ideas for results. A lot of them. The current result table has 128 slots, of which I've filled... like five.

So! I'm calling for ideas! Anything from the mildly amusing or inconvenient to the wildly wacky to the scarily serious. From an instant oasis in a snowglobe to a hoard of treasure stolen from a dragon to a pet pirate parakeet to a dancing clown to being lit on fire, all ideas are welcome.

@probablyrpgmechanicsideas @probablygoodrpgideas @probably-worldbuilding-rpg-ideas @probablystrangerpgideas @probablysystemrpgideas @definitelymetalrpgideas @definitelybirpgideas @probablybadrpgideas @probablybarpgideas @probablybackstoryrpgideas @probablyaussierpgideas @probablycthulhurpgideas @probablycryptidrpgideas @probablydapperrpgideas @probablydragonrpgideas @probablyevilrpgideas @probablyadrpgideas @probablyenchantedrpgideas @probablyfunrpgideas @probablyfaerpgideas @probablyfrickenweirdrpgideas @probablyfuturefantasyrpgideas @probablyjustfairyrpgideas @probablylibraryrpgideas @probablymetarpgideas @probablymonstrousrpgideas @probablyottrpgideas @probablyoverboardrpgideas @probablypunnyrpgideas @probablypiraterpgideas @probablypunkrpgideas @probablypaladinrpgideas @probablyquestionablerpgideas @probablyqueerrpgideas @probablyquestgiverrpgideas @probablyromanticrpgideas @probablywarforgedrpgideas @probablystrangerpgideas @probablysystemrpgideas @probablysillyrpgideas @probablyshapeshifterrpgideas @probablysolarpunkrpgideas @probablytimetravelrpgideas @probablythematicrpgideas @probablyunderdarkrpgideas @probablywriterrpgideas @probablyvampirerpgideas @probablyvaguerpgideas @probablyvorerpgideas @probablywerewolfrpgideas

Holy carp, there's a lot of us! I didn't know that tumblr limits a post to 50 mentions, but it does, so I didn't even get everyone.

Anyway, please help.

[judeblenews-blog]

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launches to ‘touch the sun’

Update: Launch successful! NASA’s ambitious mission to go closer to the Sun than ever before is set to launch in the small hours between Friday and Saturday — at 3:53 AM Eastern from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to be precise. The Parker Solar Probe, after a handful of gravity assists and preliminary orbits, will enter a stable orbit around the enormous nuclear fireball that gives us all life and sample its radiation from less than 4 million miles away. Believe me, you don’t want to get much closer than that. If you’re up late tonight (technically tomorrow morning), you can watch the launch live on NASA’s stream. This is the first mission named after a living researcher, in this case Eugene Parker, who in the ’50s made a number of proposals and theories about the way that stars give off energy. He’s the guy who gave us solar wind, and his research was hugely influential in the study of the sun and other stars — but it’s only now that some of his hypotheses can be tested directly. (Parker himself visited the craft during its construction, and will be at the launch. No doubt he is immensely proud and excited about this whole situation.) “Directly” means going as close to the sun as technology allows — which leads us to the PSP’s first major innovation: its heat shield, or thermal protection system.

There’s one good thing to be said for the heat near the sun: it’s a dry heat. Because there’s no water vapor or gases in space to heat up, find some shade and you’ll be quite comfortable. So the probe is essentially carrying the most heavy-duty parasol ever created. It’s a sort of carbon sandwich, with superheated carbon composite on the outside and a carbon foam core. All together it’s less than a foot thick, but it reduces the temperature the probe’s instruments are subjected to from 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit to 85 — actually cooler than it is in much of the U.S. right now.

Go on – it’s quite cool. The car-sized Parker will orbit the sun and constantly rotate itself so the heat shield is facing inward and blocking the brunt of the solar radiation. The instruments mostly sit behind it in a big insulated bundle. And such instruments! There are three major experiments or instrument sets on the probe. WISPR (Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe) is a pair of wide-field telescopes that will watch and image the structure of the corona and solar wind. This is the kind of observation we’ve made before — but never from up close. We generally are seeing these phenomena from the neighborhood of the Earth, nearly 100 million miles away. You can imagine that cutting out 90 million miles of cosmic dust, interfering radiation and other nuisances will produce an amazingly clear picture.

SWEAP (Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons investigation) looks out to the side of the craft to watch the flows of electrons as they are affected by solar wind and other factors. And on the front is the Solar Probe Cup (I suspect this is a reference to the Ray Bradbury story, “Golden Apples of the Sun”), which is exposed to the full strength of the sun’s radiation; a tiny opening allows charged particles in, and by tracking how they pass through a series of charged windows, they can sort them by type and energy. FIELDS is another that gets the full heat of the sun. Its antennas are the ones sticking out from the sides — they need to in order to directly sample the electric field surrounding the craft. A set of “fluxgate magnetometers,” clearly a made-up name, measure the magnetic field at an incredibly high rate: two million samples per second. They’re all powered by solar panels, which seems obvious, but actually it’s a difficult proposition to keep the panels from overloading that close to the sun. They hide behind the shield and just peek out at an oblique angle, so only a fraction of the radiation hits them. Even then, they’ll get so hot that the team needed to implement the first-ever active water cooling system on a spacecraft. Water is pumped through the cells and back behind the shield, where it is cooled by, well, space. The probe’s mission profile is a complicated one. After escaping the clutches of the Earth, it will swing by Venus, not to get a gravity boost, but “almost like doing a little handbrake turn,” as one official described it. It slows it down and sends it closer to the sun — and it’ll do that seven more times, each time bringing it closer and closer to the sun’s surface, ultimately arriving in a stable orbit 3.83 million miles above the surface — that’s 95 percent of the way from the Earth to the sun. On the way it will hit a top speed of 430,000 miles per hour, which will make it the fastest spacecraft ever launched. Parker will make 24 total passes through the corona, and during these times communication with Earth may be interrupted or impractical. If a solar cell is overheating, do you want to wait 20 minutes for a decision from NASA on whether to pull it back? No. This close to the sun even a slight miscalculation results in the reduction of the probe to a cinder, so the team has imbued it with more than the usual autonomy. It’s covered in sensors in addition to its instruments, and an onboard AI will be empowered to make decisions to rectify anomalies. That sounds worryingly like a HAL 9000 situation, but there are no humans on board to kill, so it’s probably okay. The mission is scheduled to last seven years, after which time the fuel used to correct the craft’s orbit and orientation is expected to run out. At that point it will continue as long as it can before drift causes it to break apart and, one rather hopes, become part of the sun’s corona itself. The Parker Solar Probe is scheduled for launch early Saturday morning, and we’ll update this post when it takes off successfully or, as is possible, is delayed until a later date in the launch window. Via: TechCrunch Read the full article

[theinvinciblenoob]

NASA’s ambitious mission to go closer to the Sun than ever before is set to launch in the small hours between Friday and Saturday — at 3:33 AM Eastern from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to be precise. The Parker Solar Probe, after a handful of gravity assists and preliminary orbits, will enter a stable orbit around the enormous nuclear fireball that gives us all life and sample its radiation from less than 4 million miles away. Believe me, you don’t want to get much closer than that.

If you’re up late tonight (technically tomorrow morning), you can watch the launch live on NASA’s stream.

This is the first mission named after a living researcher, in this case Eugene Parker, who in the ’50s made a number of proposals and theories about the way that stars give off energy. He’s the guy who gave us solar wind, and his research was hugely influential in the study of the sun and other stars — but it’s only now that some of his hypotheses can be tested directly. (Parker himself visited the craft during its construction, and will be at the launch. No doubt he is immensely proud and excited about this whole situation.)

“Directly” means going as close to the sun as technology allows — which leads us to the PSP’s first major innovation: its heat shield, or thermal protection system.

There’s one good thing to be said for the heat near the sun: it’s a dry heat. Because there’s no water vapor or gases in space to heat up, find some shade and you’ll be quite comfortable. So the probe is essentially carrying the most heavy-duty parasol ever created.

It’s a sort of carbon sandwich, with superheated carbon composite on the outside and a carbon foam core. All together it’s less than a foot thick, but it reduces the temperature the probe’s instruments are subjected to from 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit to 85 — actually cooler than it is in much of the U.S. right now.

Go on – it’s quite cool.

The car-sized Parker will orbit the sun and constantly rotate itself so that the heat shield is facing inwards and blocking the brunt of the solar radiation. The instruments mostly sit behind it in a big insulated bundle.

And such instruments! There are three major experiments or instrument sets on the probe.

WISPR (Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe) is a pair of wide-field telescopes that will watch and image the structure of the corona and solar wind. This is the kind of observation we’ve made before — but never from up close. We generally are seeing these phenomena from the neighborhood of the Earth, nearly 100 million miles away. You can imagine that cutting out 90 million miles of cosmic dust, interfering radiation, and other nuisances will produce an amazingly clear picture.

SWEAP (Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons investigation) looks out to the side of the craft to watch the flows of electrons as they are affected by solar wind and other factors. And on the front is the Solar Probe Cup (I suspect this is a reference to the Ray Bradbury story, “Golden Apples of the Sun”), which is exposed to the full strength of the sun’s radiation; a tiny opening allows charged particles in, and by tracking how they pass through a series of charged windows, they can sort them by type and energy.

FIELDS is another that gets the full heat of the sun. Its antennas are the ones sticking out from the sides — they need to in order to directly sample the electric field surrounding the craft. A set of “fluxgate magnetometers,” clearly a made-up name, measure the magnetic field at an incredibly high rate: two million samples per second.

They’re all powered by solar panels, which seems obvious, but actually it’s a difficult proposition to keep the panels from overloading that close to the sun. They hide behind the shield and just peek out at an oblique angle, so only a fraction of the radiation hits them.

Even then, they’ll get so hot that the team needed to implement the first ever active water cooling system on a spacecraft. Water is pumped through the cells and back behind the shield, where it is cooled by, well, space.

The probe’s mission profile is a complicated one. After escaping the clutches of the Earth, it will swing by Venus, but not to get a gravity boost, but “almost like doing a little handbrake turn,” as one official described it. It slows it down and sends it closer to the sun — and it’ll do that 7 more times, each time bringing it closer and closer to the sun’s surface, ultimately arriving in a stable orbit 3.83 million miles above the surface — that’s 95 percent of the way from the Earth to the sun.

On the way it will hit a top speed of 430,000 miles per hour, which will make it the fastest spacecraft ever launched.

Parker will make 24 total passes through the corona, and during these times communication with Earth may be interrupted or impractical. If a solar cell is overheating, do you want to wait 20 minutes for a decision from NASA on whether to pull it back? No. This close to the sun even a slight miscalculation results in the reduction of the probe to a cinder, so the team has imbued it with more than the usual autonomy.

It’s covered in sensors in addition to its instruments, and an onboard AI will be empowered to make decisions to rectify anomalies. That sounds worryingly like a HAL 9000 situation, but there are no humans on board to kill, so it’s probably okay.

The mission is scheduled to last 7 years, after which time the fuel used to correct the craft’s orbit and orientation is expected to run out. At that point it will continue as long as it can before drift causes it to break apart and, one rather hopes, become part of the sun’s corona itself.

The Parker Solar Probe is scheduled for launch early Saturday morning, and we’ll update this post when it takes off successfully or, as is possible, is delayed until a later date in the launch window.

via TechCrunch

[vurnett]

Sheng Long is a character once thought to appear in the original Street Fighter II game. He is regarded as the most famous character hoax not only in the history of Street Fighter, but in all of fighting games. The name “Sheng Long” was based on a mistranslation of “Shoryuken”, found in one of Ryu’s early victory quotes, “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance”. The large amount of fans questioning the quote lead to a rumor spread by Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) that Sheng Long was actually a secret boss character fought under extreme conditions. The whole hoax would become one of the most famous hoaxes and video game legends in gaming history, spreading globally.

The name Sheng Long comes from a mistranslated portion of Ryu’s Shoryuken; “shō ryū” from Shōryūken, Ryu’s flying uppercut, is “shēng lóng” in Chinese pinyin. This was carried into one of Ryu’s quotes to defeated opponents in the English localization of the 1991 arcade game Street Fighter II, changing the Japanese quote, “If you cannot overcome the Rising Dragon Fist, you cannot win!” to “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.” As a result players were given the impression that Ryu was referring to an actual person instead of the physical attack itself.

The Super Nintendo (SNES) port of Street Fighter II released shortly after the April Fool prank changed the translation to “You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance.” However, the English instruction manual for the SNES Street Fighter II referred to “Master Sheng Long” as Ryu and Ken’s teacher. Instruction manuals for later ports to the SNES and Sega Mega Drive consoles replaced all references to Sheng Long by referring to Ryu and Ken as “disciples of Shotokan Karate”.

April 1992 EGM article

EGM first started the Sheng Long rumor with a hoax article (pictured), revealing the rumored method to access him. He is described to have over-the-top powers, with fireballs faster than Sagat’s Tiger Shot, and a spinning kick deadlier than Chun-Li’s Spinning Bird Kick, also with the special attack of each fighter and “mega-damage” attack. He was also said to possess an air throw and have a Shoryuken engulfed in flames.

The method described was as follows: playing only as Ryu, the player cannot take a single hit until M. Bison’s stage. Then, the player must not hit M. Bison or allow him to land a hit for ten rounds straight. Afterwards, Sheng Long would appear to throw Bison off the stage and face Ryu. When facing Sheng Long, the timer will freeze at 99, leaving a full “fight to the death”. This directly inspired Akuma’s entry sequence in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, where Akuma comes on the stage and performs the Shun Goku Satsu on M. Bison.

April 1997 EGM article

Around the release of Street Fighter III: New Generation, EGM later revived this rumor with an issue in 1997, where they actually gave him a defined appearance and design, and further explained his backstory. However, the method to get him was obscured after “Getting 6 perfects”. His fighting style included an air version of Akuma’s Shakunetsu Hadoken that knocked his opponent down, a double ground high-low Hadoken, an unblockable Denjin-Shinryuu-Ken (電刃神龍拳 Denjin Shinryūken?, “Electric Blade Divine Dragon Fist”) Super Art that would shock the opponent, an air rapid Hadoken super attack akin to Ibuki’s Kasumi Suzaku, and a third super attack intended to be a stronger version of Akuma’s Shun Goku Satsu.

Street Fighter: The Movie

Sheng Long is mentioned three times in the 1995 arcade game Street Fighter: The Movie in the endings for Ryu, Ken and Akuma. In each of the endings he is stated as Akuma’s brother and the master of Ryu and Ken, but never stated as dead. Despite the repeated mention, Sheng Long does not appear in the game. On January 30, 2007 the game’s designer, Alan Noon, appeared on Shoryuken.com’s forum and discussed aspects of the game cut during development, among them a playable Sheng Long character.

According to Noon, while shooting and digitizing the character images for the game, talk had circulated about adding extra characters that were not in the film. As the Sheng Long hoax and Akuma’s debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo were fairly recent at the time, the designers asked for Capcom’s permission to add both characters into the game. Capcom approved the addition of Akuma, but denied the inclusion of Sheng Long.

However, during the digitization sessions for Akuma, Capcom unexpectedly approved the addition of Sheng Long; Noon stated that Capcom felt the character’s inclusion was a necessity for the game’s success. Noon designed Sheng Long’s appearance, giving him a “mandarin style” gi and one hand taking the form of a dragon’s claw, described as a result of his power being so great that he began to physically transform into a dragon. Capcom approved the design, and an artist from the development team posed as Sheng Long. However, the character was left unfinished because of time constraints.

Street Fighter IV Main article: Gouken

In an interview in the January 2008 Issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono stated “Let’s just say that [jokes] that your magazine have reported in the past might find their way into the game as fan service.” Executive editor Shane Bettenhausen took this to mean the appearance of Sheng Long in Street Fighter IV, though added that if the character did appear in the game, it would be Gouken. When asked in a later interview by 1UP.com regarding the possibility of Sheng Long’s appearance in the title, Ono replied “Are you coming to the Tokyo Game Show? How about you ask me that question again then.” Capcom later revealed Gouken as a character in Street Fighter IV, with Ono stating in an interview with Play magazine that his inclusion in the title was in response to fans requesting Sheng Long’s presence in the game. Players can also unlock the title “AKA Sheng Long” for their calling card by using Gouken.

On April 1, 2008, Capcom announced Sheng Long as a “secret, unlock-able character” in their Japanese development blog for Street Fighter IV and later posted in their official US blog accompanied with a silhouette of the character. The post took the tone of a Capcom PR representative trying to announce a character without giving away too many details, hinting that “Sheng Long is Ryu’s…” then holding back and saying to wait for an official character announcement. Similar to the original EGM joke, the post lists the method to unlock him as requiring the player to win every round as Ryu without taking any damage whatsoever and then perform his “Shoryuken” move during the final boss fight. Reception to the joke the third time was negative, and included criticism from 1UP.com. The following day, the Japanese website confirmed that it was indeed a joke, and explained the origin of Sheng Long while adding “Sheng-Long is still now and always will be, truly a character of legend.”

Street Fighter V

On March 2017, 25 years after the EGM article was published, Sheng Long was given a “joke” profile in the Shadaloo C.R.I. part of the Capcom Fighters Network website. The profile satirizes the Sheng Long rumor, stating that he became a “living legend”, he appears “if you keep getting draw games”, his moves are impossible to counterattack, and that anyone that sees him will die after 24 hours.

Keeping with tradition, the profile also lists an exaggerated moveset for him. Apart from the Hadoken, Shoryuken and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, he can also use the Jigoku Tomoenage, a throw that instantly defeats his opponent, the Renkoin, an ability that allows him to resurrect himself indefinitely, the Daihan, which angers his opponent, and a “Critical Art”, the Rei Shirushibo, which changes his personality.

Additionally, the background is different from other profiles, and it has the word “uso” in it, meaning “lie” in Japanese. The profile is said to be the “800th” (which is actually not the case) and it is currently unlisted, stating that much like those who see him, it will disappear in 24 hours.

#Sheng Long